Mercedes Benz 540 K Coupe by Hebmuller 1937, Alemanha
Fotografia
The Mercedes-Benz 540 K was among the most prestigious and, in
the eyes of many, the most beautiful European automobiles of the interwar
years. The combination of its supercharged eight-cylinder power at 180
horsepower with the blower engaged, its light weight, and its sheer flamboyant
beauty made it the master of the German road and a testimonial to the
astonishing capabilities of the engineers who conceived it. It was also
breathtakingly expensive in all its coachbuilt variants, guaranteeing
exclusivity among its owners. Just 419 chassis were built, the majority
delivered in one of eleven factory body styles produced by the famed
Sindelfingen Werk.
Few 540 Ks were more beautiful than the second-generation
Cabriolet A, of which only thirty-two examples were built. This design offered
fuller front fenders that elegantly flowed rearward towards the rounded tail,
which housed dual spare tires. The elegant styling and great power of the
supercharged engine and its external exhausts were further enhanced via a feature
identified colloquially as the “set-back radiator.” Referred to by the factory
as Fahrgestell mit zurückgesetztem Motor, “chassis
with setback motor,” in fact the radiator and entire drivetrain were positioned
185 mm farther back on the chassis than standard. This gave the car a
completely different air, with a longer, more aggressive front end, which is
most closely associated with the fabled Spezialroadster.
As a complete package, it ranks among the most elegant and
graceful German coachwork of its era and today is among the most highly
sought-after by enthusiasts. The survivors are prized, and the few truly unique
examples that have been missing to the larger collecting world for half a
century seldom if ever become available. Chassis 154143 was destined to become
completely unique in its own right.
The 540 K offered here is noted by Daimler-Benz as having been
ordered under commission number 233173 and delivered on 12 July 1937. The
purchaser was Brabender GmbH, a company which still today supplies laboratory
instruments for material testing in chemical and food processing industries.
Located in Duisburg on the Rhine and Ruhr rivers, the Brabender 540 K was
equipped with the chassis, engine, gearbox, and coachwork (save for the top)
that it retains today.
According to the Hebmüller family, it was brought by its
subsequent owner, the Henkel family of Düsseldorf, of Henkel & Cie.
Chemical Works, to the Karrosseriewerke Joseph Hebmüller Söhne around mid- to
late-1951. Hebmüller is a well-regarded coachbuilder established in Wuppertal
in the late 19th century and, ironically, known for its cabriolet bodies. At
its client’s instruction, Hebmüller removed the convertible top and windshield
pillars and superbly integrated a new coupe roofline onto the factory
Sindelfingen coachwork. It is interesting to note that at the same time,
Hebmüller added a similar roofline to a 170 S cabriolet for a director of the
Henkel industrial concern—arguably not a coincidence.
The flat windshield became a vee’d two-piece unit with
crank-out windows; the door windows were changed to fit the new profile of the
roof; extended skirts with chrome strips were added to the front fenders, as
well as rectangular marker lights; and the rear of the body was modified to
become slightly truncated, with more modern taillights installed and a metal
cover added over the rear-mounted spares. Finished in a dark hue, the result
was a handsome, highly sporting presentation reminiscent of the factory Spezialcoupe.
The Mercedes-Benz subsequently moved to the U.S. and was
refinished in a two-tone scheme of cream with grey fenders and roof; a Golde
canvas sunroof, not from the original Hebmüller conversion, had also been added
by this time. Its earliest appearance in the United States was around 1954 with
Henry A. Rudkin Jr., whose mother, notably, was the founder of the Pepperidge
Farm bakery. In 1956 it appeared with Dr. William Hoffman of New York City.
Later it was acquired by John P. Quirk of Hastings, Nebraska;
the special appearance was certainly not lost on Mr. Quirk, as he also
simultaneously owned one of the Sindelfingen-bodied Spezialcoupes.
Subsequently, both Mercedes were offered by him at auction in Denver, Colorado,
in 1968, at which point chassis 154143 was acquired by the present owner’s
parents and driven back to Nebraska. During the trip home, the car was
repeatedly pulled over by the constabulary of the small towns they passed
through, simply to ogle the car. This was to the great pleasure, if inconvenience,
of the new owners. Maintained in working mechanical order by its new owner, the
540 K regularly made local appearances with its owner and his wife in period
costumes, to the great admiration of the town’s history and classic car
enthusiasts. The last opportunity for the locals to appreciate the
Mercedes-Benz came in a county parade and car competition in 1980. The judging
panel in this small agricultural city—perhaps hewing to what they knew
best—awarded Best of Show to a restored John Deere antique tractor (it is worth
noting that the owner’s 1957 Corvette also did not place). After this
ignominious defeat, the owner put the car into the garage he had built himself
specifically to protect and store it, and the 540 K coupe made no more public appearances
until reemerging in late 2019.
That the coupe existed is known, but its whereabouts have
remained largely a mystery, even to noted historian Jan Melin, who featured an
older photograph of the car in his respected book, Mercedes-Benz:
The Supercharged 8-Cylinder Cars of the 1930s. Accompanying the
car's file is also a detailed history report prepared by a marque historian,
including several additional period photographs depicting the product of
Hebmüller’s work in the early 1950s. Today the 540 K remains in very solid,
intact overall condition, still as it spent decades in its owner’s garage, with
its 1960s paint scheme and red leather interior both showing considerable wear.
Features of its “enthusiast era” restoration remain intact, including additional
driving gauges mounted below the dashboard.
The coupe has most recently received a mechanical
recommissioning by RM Auto Restoration to return it to running and stopping
order, and it would be an interesting automobile to freshen mechanically and tour,
or, perhaps, as the ideal basis for a complete concours restoration, be it as a
coupe or Cabriolet A. Indeed, photographs of the car after completion by
Hebmüller demonstrate the stunning result in a dark color with hardtop–these
teasing images depict what could be, and it would arguably be among the most
spectacular 540 K coupes when completed, an automobile equal to or greater in
beauty than almost any other closed coachwork on this chassis. Either way, it
would be a showstopper to see arrive at any concours d’elegance the world over.
Marking the rare opportunity to acquire one of the ultimate
lost supercharged Mercedes-Benzes, the Missing Coupe has remained one of the
great mysteries of the supercharged Mercedes world, long pursued, but never
found...until now.
